Reddit mentions of The Norton Shakespeare

It is generally believed that the plot of Othello, devoid racial issues, was derived from Giovanbatitista Giraldi Cinthio's De glib hecatommithi ("Hundred Tales," third decade, seventh story, 1565), also known as Un Capitano Moro ("A Moorish Captain").

The racial tension present in the play is thought to be drawn primarily from the 1600 translation of A Geographical Historie of Africa written by Leo Africanus, a Moroccan Muslim captured by Christian pirates and brought to Rome, where he converted to Catholicism.

His constructions of Venetian-Turkish affairs is thought to have been taken from Richard Knolle's General History of the Turkes (1603).

Since you are doing a presentation you probability looking for sources. I would recommend The Norton Shakespeare it has a great overview of the history of Shakespeare and his influences. It is quite common and should be found in most libraries, although it might be in the reference section.

If you are looking for something a little more substantive I would recommend:

• Understanding Othello: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents
  by Faith Nostbakken
  
• Othello: Critical Essays edited by Philip Kolin
  
• Critical Essays on Shakespeare's Othello edited by Anthony Barthelemy
  
  Good Luck!
  

I saw the complete works of Willm Shaxberd in an edition I didn't have, which would have intriguing supplementary material, but I DIDN'T buy it for complex, brain-fart reasons.

It was a five-dollar-to-fill-a-bag library sale. Early on I found a book I KIND OF wanted, and quickly realized that was all I wanted. I became biased against filling my bag at all and just walking out. Well into doing this, I saw The Wonton Chronicles of One Willm Shaxberd, 3rd Ed. I decided NOT to get it for two reasons: 1) mainly, the bias established by the situation, and 2) I already had the third edition, and didn't realize how much I'd like to have the second as well. I could have bought that one book for fifty cents, but my brain didn't fully digest that option.

The decision was mainly situational and brain-fart related. Now I totally regret it.

Cheers! Well, thanks to everyone, but I won't reply just to say thank you. Y'all know I appreciate your helpfulness.

This Norton anthology of yours; well, I found a few on Amazon (which is undoubtedly where I'm going to get it), and there is a "regular" edition and an "International Student Edition". However I am unable to discern any difference between the two as the latter lacks a description. Would any of these two be the one you own? Either one sounds brilliant, but there is quite a price difference.